Natasha walked into Thanos' cabin, Steve just ahead of her to her right. Rhodes, Bruce in the Hulk Buster armor, and Carol were restraining Thanos whose left arm had already been severed just below the elbow by Thor who stood in front of him, his hand tightly gripping Stormbreaker. She saw Rocket run up to the gauntlet with Thanos's arm still inside it. As he looked at it, Natasha saw its condition. It wasn't the bright, golden, gleaming gauntlet that she remembered from Wakanda. Now, it looked like a burnt, bent, dirty piece of mangled scrap metal.
"Oh no," Rocket uttered after turning the gauntlet over and exposing that it was devoid of the stones.
Natasha and Steve glanced at each other. "Where are they?" Steve demanded.
Carol tightened her vice grip on Thanos' throat. "Answer the question."
Thanos looked at the looming Captain America. "The universe required correction. After that, the stones served no purpose beyond temptation."
"You murdered trillions!" Bruce shouted, shoving Thanos to the ground.
"You should be grateful," Thanos replied. He felt the hard punch from Bruce courtesy of the Hulk Buster armor to his face.
"Where are the stones?" Natasha asked, her eyes beginning to water and feeling herself shaking slightly with anger from trying not to give in to the urge to rip Thanos' genocidal head off.
"Gone, reduced to atoms," he answered, looking up at the Black Widow from the floor. She blinked quickly and hard, forcing back the urge to let herself shed tears at the thought that he was telling the truth.
"You used them two days ago," Bruce told him angrily.
"I used the stones to destroy the stones. It nearly killed me, but the work is done. It always will be," Thanos revealed. "I am… inevitable."
"We have to tear this place apart. H-he has to be lying," Rhodes uttered, refusing to acknowledge what they'd all just heard.
"My father is many things. A liar is not one of them," Nebula spoke up.
"Ahh, thank you, daughter. Perhaps I treated you too harshly –"
Everyone watched in dumbfounded horror as Thanos' head was decapitated from his body. The sound of it, and his body, falling lifeless to the floor almost seemed to want to echo through the small shack.
"What did you do?" Rocket asked somewhere between shocked and horrified.
"I went for the head," Thor answered as his teammates looked on. Natasha felt herself breathing heavily, a massive weight in the pit of her stomach as she realized that Thanos was telling the truth. The stones were gone, destroyed, and with them, any hope of undoing the mass genocide they and Thanos had brought upon the universe.
The team filtered out slowly, first Thor, then Rhodes, Rocket and Nebula, Carol, and Bruce. "Nat?" Steve asked when he saw her standing still, staring down at the fallen Titan. "You alright?" She shook her head. After a moment, she finally began to walk out of the shack. He followed her out, but as he reached the bottom of the steps, he watched as she trailed off to the right, away from the direction everyone else was headed toward the ship.
He made his way onto the ship and took his seat. Rhodes looked at him confused. "Where's the blonde?" Rocket asked, his normal acerbic bluster missing, knocked out of him by situation.
"She needs a minute," Steve answered, sullen.
The sun felt warm as Natasha looked out into the horizon. There was nothing but a growing yield of crops like she'd never seen on Earth. But as she took in the sight of the growing vegetation, she realized how quiet it was. There were no birds chirping. No insects buzzing. No animals of any kind. She was sure there were some. But they weren't here. Other victims of Thanos too, she thought. In the solitude, she finally let the tears fall. I'm sorry, Pete, she thought sadly. We failed… I failed, she further thought, still blaming herself.
Five Years Later…
The battle was over. Thanos's army was defeated and dusted. And the fallen had been collected. After what felt like a never-ending amount of debriefing, everyone was trying to get started with the business of moving forward. Those from other worlds and countries who'd fought with the Avengers had been returned thanks to the Masters of the Mystic Arts, or their own technology. Cleanup of the ruins of the Avenger's Compound had begun.
And the funeral of Tony Stark had taken place.
Everyone was gathered at the Stark's cabin. The mood was somber, with low volume chatter. Occasionally, the sudden laughter would break the subdued atmosphere. As he listened to a momentarily long stretch of laughter, Peter assumed someone was telling a story about one of Tony's more colorful moments. Still not feeling up to trying to fake a smile, he got up from the couch and headed outside. After a minute of walking, he found himself standing next to the river. He stood by it, watching it, almost wishing he could still see the ripples from the wreath that had been placed there to float away. He almost felt himself cry again at the feeling of emptiness that Tony left with him.
But then, before he realized it, he felt tears running down his face. The emptiness amplified by thoughts of another figure. Someone who should also be getting celebrated and memorialized today. But she wasn't. In fact, with a few passing questions here and there about possible arrangements, he couldn't recall anyone acting like it was a topic for discussion.
"I'm sorry, Nat," he said as he kicked a rock into the water. "I'm sorry it feels like everyone forgot you."
"She's not forgotten," came a voice from behind him. Peter turned to look and saw a woman standing maybe ten feet back. She was dressed in a simple black dress, her dark brown hair loose and came down past her shoulders. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you."
"Y-you didn't," Peter said, looking at her with some suspicion while wiping away at some tears running down his cheek.
"I'm a friend of Natasha's," the woman said as she began to close the distance. "I'm Laura," she introduced herself with her hand extended, her body leaned over since she still kept a distance of about three feet. She knew Peter was caught off guard and didn't want to make him nervous any further than was necessary. "Laura Barton."
Peter took her hand and shook it nervously. He was surprised at his reaction. After all, his spidey-sense wasn't going off, so he knew she wasn't a threat. He had also seen her at the funeral, so she was obviously invited. But he still found himself wanting to be wary of her.
"No bad vibes coming off me?" she asked him as they let go and Peter slowly took back his hand. Laura gave a soft, slight chuckle. "Yeah, I know about it. Nat talked about you, and filled me in on some stuff."
"S-she did?"
Laura nodded. "Said you were a good kid, though she wished you'd listen a little more about not getting in over your head with the world saving. Told me you were incredibly smart. 'If he stays out of trouble, he could be the next Tony Stark,' were her exact words." Peter smiled and almost laughed. Somehow, he hadn't noticed that Laura had closed the distance between them and that she was now just a foot away. "A tad bit socially awkward was the thing she got a kick out of the most."
"I'm not… I get a little nervous sometimes, but I'm not awkward," Peter tried to defend himself.
Laura raised her hand to Peter's face, cradling it. "You're fifteen… you're more than likely awkward," she deadpanned. Laura then stepped next to the teenage boy and put her arm around him. "But she said it was adorable. And the thought that she might not be here to watch you, well; it was one of the few things that scared her."
"Nat wasn't afraid of anything," Peter replied.
"We're all afraid. She was just really good at handling it, mostly by preparing for the worst – like now." Peter gave Laura a knowing side eye look. She nodded and continued. "She lived a dangerous life, and she knew that at any instance something could happen to her. So, to make sure Spider-Baby – her pet name for you actually – wasn't without someone to keep an eye out for him, she asked me to step in."
"When did she…," Peter tried asking.
"Not long before Thanos happened. And while I'm sure she would've preferred to find a way to survive to look after you herself –"
"She went full Avenger and decided to save the world," Peter finished.
Laura tightened her embrace. "You're alive again. Wherever she's at, she's at peace with her decision because of that. And like I said, she's not forgotten. And she's definitely not going to go without her own memorial. Tell me something, you think your aunt would let you go to Cincinnati for a few days?"
Peter turned and looked at Laura in compete confusion. Laura just smiled and raised her eyebrows in a knowing way.
The quiet was bothering Peter. Or, rather it was the silence from the Barton's and himself as they made their way through the small cemetery. He was seated in the third row seat of the SUV, with Cooper and Lila in the second row seat, and Nate sitting opposite him, the young boy practically giddy at the idea of being in a vehicle with Spider-Man. The windows were up, but he could still hear the gravel crunching under the tires. It provided an odd monotonous sound to him that he wasn't used to. Even the cemeteries back home had some background noise from the area surrounding it. As he thought about it, it was the lack of background noise that was really bothering him.
I guess I really am just too used to the city and all the noise that comes with it, he thought dismally. For some reason the lack of noise made it more difficult to focus and rather than get a good look at the cemetery as it passed by them, it all seemed to blend together in a quick green blur.
After a few minutes, the SUV came to a stop. He looked up to the front seats and saw Clint and Laura undoing their seat belts. He and the rest of the Barton kids did the same. They all piled out of the vehicle and it was the first time Peter took a real look at the cemetery.
No meticulously landscaped grounds. No divisions created by well laid concrete to separate the road from the grass. In fact, the only division between the two seemed to be the path carved out by the constant traffic of tires. Instead, there was some overgrowth to the grass. The trees grew in between the stones. And the occasional sound of wildlife interrupted the silence. It was a far cry from the cemetery near where they entered, which looked like what one came to expect a cemetery to look like. This area was much older, and while it was maintained, it was evident that nature had been allowed to sneak back in, and act as a watchful companion to the graves of people who'd been laid here so long ago that they probably had no relatives left to visit.
"Um, why is she so far?" Peter asked, nervous that he might be contradicting their decision.
"Because Nat wouldn't have wanted to be up front, where everyone could see her," Clint answered calmly. "She didn't like a lot of attention, so we figured she would've preferred it back here, where no one really stopped by."
As they looked down though, they could see that people had stopped by. There were a few small flower arrangements, some cards, and a couple of stuffed animals. Not many, but enough to show that even after only two days after the headstone was erected, grateful mourners had shown up. The family stood before the stone. Clint and Laura in the middle, with Lila on Clint's left, her arm looped with his. Peter could hear her quietly crying. Cooper was just off the right of the stone, Nate standing in front of him, with the older brother holding the younger one by the shoulders. Both looked sad, but Cooper was the only one who was teary eyed. Laura had pulled Peter next to her, so he was in front of the stone. Like her daughter, Laura was shedding a few tears.
Peter stood both nervously and solemnly. He studied the headstone: a simple upright headstone done in dark gray trim and a light gray inner field. Natasha's name engraved near the top with her Black Widow symbol under it, and the words "DAUGHTER", "SISTER", "AVENGER" engraved near the bottom. Her birth and death dates were missing, but Peter surmised that Clint and Laura left those off intentionally. A spy should have some secrets, he thought.
Peter felt awkward. Just like he did when he and Aunt May went to visit Uncle Ben's grave. He knew May often talked to the stone like she was talking to him. Sometimes it was out loud, other times in her head, at least that's what she told him. But either way it always ended with her having tears in her eyes.
"Come on guys, let's give Peter some time alone," Laura said while wiping her eyes. Clint led the kids away as Laura stood next to Peter. "Take all the time you need," she told him gently as she placed a comforting grip on his shoulder before leaving him alone.
"Hey Nat," he said softly, almost as if he thought he'd disturb the calmness of the day by speaking any louder. "I… I, uh, I don't know what to say." He looked down and kicked at small rock. "I guess, I guess I miss you is a good start. Actually, I guess telling you we won might be better. But then again, if I'm here, you probably already know that. So, the plan you and the other Avengers had worked."
God, this is just as hard as it was at Mr. Stark's funeral, he thought.
"I wish you could've been here for the funeral for Mr. Stark. Hell, I wish you could've at least gotten your own funeral," he grumbled. "You shouldn't have had to even have one though. You… you should be here, seeing everyone that's back." He could feel the wetness in his eyes, and the slight moisture on his cheeks.
Peter took a second to compose himself. He then knelt down, holding himself steady by placing his hand on the top of the headstone.
"I'm sorry we didn't get to say goodbye," he spoke, full tears now running down his face.
Looking on from SUV, Laura watched as Peter let some emotion show. Sure, she'd seen him look sad, but it was obvious to her that he was holding some things in. But as she watched him wipe his face with his sleeve, she knew he was finally connecting with Natasha's death and not bottling up his grief. Poor kid, she thought as she watched him stand back up and start making his way back toward the truck. It's not easy losing two parental figures, she further mused.
"You okay?" she asked once he was next to her. They walked back to meet Clint and the kids who were waiting for them inside the SUV.
Peter nodded. "Yeah," he said stoically. He climbed back into the SUV, this time noticing Lila was in the third row with him instead of Nate.
"Mom made us switch. She thought you could use a break from Nate fanboying all over you," she smiled. Peter chuckled just slightly as he felt the vehicle start to pull away.
"Bye, Nat," he said inside his mind. Almost as if somewhere far off in his head, deep down where we listen with our emotions, with our hearts, Peter felt as if he could hear a small voice echoing back.
"Bye, Pete."
The End